Scientific Publications

There are a number of published articles (co-) authored by ADF foundation. The following articles are some of the publications:

Co-publications

2018,Minerva Singh, Damian Evans, Jean‐Baptiste Chevance, Boun Suy Tan, Nicholas Wiggins, Leaksmy Kong, Sakada Sakhoeun: “Evaluating the ability of community‐protected forests in Cambodia to prevent deforestation and degradation using temporal remote sensing data”, Ecology and Evolution, 2018;00:1–17 (full text).​Abstract:Community forests are known to play an important role in preserving forests in Cambodia, a country that has seen rapid deforestation in recent decades. The detailed evaluation of the ability of community‐protected forests to retain forest cover and prevent degradation in Cambodia will help to guide future conservation management. In this study, a combination of remotely sensing data was used to compare the temporal variation in forest structure for six different community forests located in the Phnom Kulen National Park (PKNP) in Cambodia and to assess how these dynamics vary between community‐protected forests and a wider study area. Medium‐resolution Landsat, ALOS PALSAR data, and high‐resolution LiDAR data were used to study the spatial distribution of forest degradation patterns and their impacts on above‐ground biomass (AGB) changes. Analysis of the remotely sensing data acquired at different spatial resolutions revealed that between 2012 and 2015, the community forests had higher forest cover persistence and lower rates of forest cover loss compared to the entire study area. Furthermore, they faced lower encroachment from cashew plantations compared to the wider landscape. Four of the six community forests showed a recovery in canopy gap fractions and subsequently, an increase in the AGB stock. The levels of degradation decreased in forests that had an increase in AGB values. However, all community forests experienced an increase in understory damage as a result of selective tree removal, and the community forests with the sharpest increase in understory damage experienced AGB losses. This is the first time multitemporal high‐resolution LiDAR data have been used to analyze the impact of human‐induced forest degradation on forest structure and AGB. The findings of this work indicate that while community‐protected forests can improve conservation outcomes to some extent, more interventions are needed to curb the illegal selective logging of valuable timber trees.​2014,Penny D., Chevance J-B., Tang D., De Greef S.;"The Environmental Impact of Cambodia’s Ancient City of Mahendraparvata (Phnom Kulen)”, PLoS ONE 9(1): e84252. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084252​Abstract:The Khmer kingdom, whose capital was at Angkor from the 9th to the 14th-15th century, was founded in 802 by king Jayavarman II in a city called Mahandraparvata, on Phnom Kulen. Virtually nothing more is known of Mahandraparvata from the epigraphic sources, but systematic archaeological survey and excavation have identified an array of cultural features that point to a more extensive and enduring settlement than the historical record indicates. Recent remote sensing data have revolutionized our view, revealing the remains of a city with a complex and spatially extensive network of urban infrastructure. Here, we present a record of vegetation change and soil erosion from within that urban network, dating from the 8th century CE. Our findings indicate approximately 400 years of intensive land use, punctuated by discrete periods of intense erosion beginning in the mid 9th century and ending in the late 11th century. A marked change in water management practices is apparent from the 12th century CE, with implications for water supply to Angkor itself. This is the first indication that settlement on Mahendraparvata was not only extensive, but also intensive and enduring, with a marked environmental impact. (Full text)​

Abstract:Previous archaeological mapping work on the successive medieval capitals of the Khmer Empire located at Angkor, in northwest Cambodia (∼9th to 15th centuries in the Common Era, C.E.), has identified it as the largest settlement complex of the preindustrial world, and yet crucial areas have remained unmapped, in particular the ceremonial centers and their surroundings, where dense forest obscures the traces of the civilization that typically remain in evidence in surface topography. Here we describe the use of airborne laser scanning (lidar) technology to create high-precision digital elevation models of the ground surface beneath the vegetation cover. We identify an entire, previously undocumented, formally planned urban landscape into which the major temples such as Angkor Wat were integrated. Beyond these newly identified urban landscapes, the lidar data reveal anthropogenic changes to the landscape on a vast scale and lend further weight to an emerging consensus that infrastructural complexity, unsustainable modes of subsistence, and climate variation were crucial factors in the decline of the classical Khmer civilization. (Full text)

2013, « Pœng Tbal et Pœng Eisei, ermitages angkoriens méconnus du Phnom Kulen », Aséanie 32, Décembre 2013, p. 11-76.Abstract:Poeng Eisei and Poeng Tbal are two rupestrian sites located on the Phnom Kulen sandstone plateau, an area famous for being the site of king Jayavarman II's capital, one of the first capitals of the Angkorian empire (early ninth century). This paper presents data collected during various archaeological campaigns led on these sites since 2008 that bring to light an unknown aspect of Khmer archaeology: the hermitages of the Angkorian period. The authors' efforts have revealed the traces of important constructions (wooden buildings and decorated ponds) as well as numerous archaeological artefacts, among which was a funerary deposit. Comparing the data gathered during these research trips with the iconography of the sites and the inscriptions that they contain, allows for a new interpretation of the role of these hermitages and of their use by the population : instead of isolated retreats of solitary hermits, these rupestrian sites seem to have been religious centres housing sizable communities. Comparison with similar sites at Phnom Kulen and more generally throughout the Khmer empire supports the findings put forward in this first study and confirms that such hermitages must have appeared during the tenth century and spread out and gained in importance in the eleventh century. More information can be found here.​